At Microsoft’s E3 2018 presentation, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer teased that the next generation of Xbox consoles was already in development, but stopped short of providing any concrete details. There’s still much we don’t know about the next-gen Xbox console, but thanks to an interview Spencer gave to Japanese magazine Famitsu, we do know that Japanese developers are actively involved in its development.

Spencer didn’t name any specific Japanese companies that are providing input for the next Xbox, but he did say that Microsoft has asked Japanese devs what kind of innovations they want to see in the industry that could be incorporated in the new system. Spencer himself has traveled to Japan to meet with various publishers and developers in the country, and he believes that he is successfully building a bond between them and Microsoft.

Microsoft has traditionally struggled with its console sales in Japan, despite numerous efforts by the company to gain a foothold in the region. Its most significant effort came during the Xbox 360 era, when it released a number of Japanese-focused exclusive games, including some titles made by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Because of this, even if the next Xbox is truly being made with input from Japanese developers, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the console will be a success in Japan.

For the most part, the Japanese gaming market has been dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and mobile gaming. Since exclusive games from the creator of Final Fantasy (one of the most popular gaming franchises in Japan’s history) failed to draw Japanese consumers to Xbox, it seems like Microsoft has an uphill battle ahead of itself if it hopes to rectify its past sales failures in the country.

Of course, we still know next to nothing about what the next Xbox will entail. We know that its codename is Scarlet, and there have been suggestions that it will actually consist of a family of consoles, not just a single release.

Spencer has also said that the next Xbox will focus on framerate and starting games quicker, but beyond that, there’s very little to go on. Fans should expect to learn more about the next Xbox and other ways Microsoft plans to appeal to the Japanese audience when more is likely revealed next year.

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If only they kept Scalebound. Not even sure if it would be worth it for Microsoft to even try, I doubt anyone in Japan are even aware of the existence of an Xbox, albeit it would probably need a name change for that country specifically.
I do see from the sales chart that Japanese Xbox gamers seem to have a liking for Forza. Maybe Forza Horizon 5 should be in Japan. Horizon 3 sold 20k units in Japan (physical), out of 95k Xbox units sold in the country, those are really good numbers. With Horizon 5 in 2020, and Xbox Scarlett expected by 2020, I think there is great potential for a good launch. By then Scalebound should be a thing again, surely if they want to fully enter a new market.

I personally wouldn't buy any Japanese like game if it has to do with anime, but I would buy a game like Scalebound. It's like a mix of western and Japanese in the sense that it isn't perverted like anime is. The only Japanese games I have ever bought are just simple old Nintendo titles (Maybe going to try Nier now that is on Xbox, because the PC port is still unfixed).

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TheBird said:If only they kept Scalebound. Not even sure if it would be worth it for Microsoft to even try, I doubt anyone in Japan are even aware of the existence of an Xbox, albeit it would probably need a name change for that country specifically. I do see from the sales chart that Japanese Xbox gamers seem to have a liking for Forza. Maybe Forza Horizon 5 should be in Japan. Horizon 3 sold 20k units in Japan (physical), out of 95k Xbox units sold in the country, those are really good numbers. With Horizon 5 in 2020, and Xbox Scarlett expected by 2020, I think there is great potential for a good launch. By then Scalebound should be a thing again, surely if they want to fully enter a new market.

I personally wouldn't buy any Japanese like game if it has to do with anime, but I would buy a game like Scalebound. It's like a mix of western and Japanese in the sense that it isn't perverted like anime is. The only Japanese games I have ever bought are just simple old Nintendo titles (Maybe going to try Nier now that is on Xbox, because the PC port is still unfixed).

AngryLittleAlchemist said:What does that even mean though? What could they do to specifically cater to the Japanese audience that doesn't require a major reworking of the entire brand? What could be console specific?

All that sounds like is either PR talk or essentially "we're buying (timed) exclusives"

It surely means that they talked to Square Enix and Bandai Namco (a couple of big international Japanese devs) about very generic stuff like "when do you think we'll get enough games for a new gen".

The very few Japanese titles releasing on Xbox sell poorly on it because the audience for those games is on Playstation and Nintendo. That's it. For 1 Final Fantasy AAA that they get, PS/Nin get 20 smaller or weirder "niche" titles, which will never go to Xbox because Xbox basically doesn't exist in Japan.

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So? I doubt that's inusual, given that some japanese devs (Square-Enix, Capcom, etc) also push the hardware capabilities, and their input is as valid as those from western devs like Ubisoft, EA or Activision.

Please excuse my bad English.

Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070

Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.